String tag attaching devices



Nov. 10, 1959 cs. F. c. BURKE STRING TAG ATTACHING DEVICES 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 21, 1958 Inventar George F C. Bur/re By his Attorney Nov. 10, 1959 e. F. c. BURKE STRING TAG ATTACHING DEVICES 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 21, 1.958

Nov. 10, 1959 e. F. c. BURKE STRING TAG ATTACHING DEVICES 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 21, 1958 Nov. 10, 1959 G. F. c. BURKE STRING TAG ATTACHING DEVICES 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 21, 1958 Elum 7 m 7 LN w MQJA Mun ml: v 3%....-

Nov. 10, 1959 ca. F. c. BURKE 2,911,928

STRING TAG ATTACHING DEVICES Filtd Feb. 21, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Nov. 10, 1959 G. F. c. BURKE 2,911,928

STRING TAG ATTACHING DEVICES Filed Feb. 21, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 mmn nnnnnnil wag- United States Patent STRING TAG ATTACHING DEVICES George F. C. Burke, Beverly, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 21, 1958, Serial No. 716,806

9 Claims. (Cl. 112104) This invention relates generally to improvements in tag attaching and more particularly to devices suited for manual operation, generally by women taggers, for connecting tags by means of strings to such articles as garments and fabrics but also including goods of widely diversified characteristics.

Tags, more particularly price tags, are purchased by merchants for application to their goods in either of two different conditions: prestrung, that is, already assembled with strings by means of which the tags are connected to articles of merchandise, or plain punched tags, that is, without accompanying strings. Prest-rung tags have several disadvantages which make them unsatisfactory for application to many classes of goods, although they may be quickly appended to such articles as garments with no more apparatus than a simple tagging needle. Some of the objections are that they offer no protection against unauthorized transfer from one article of merchandise to another, that some of them may cause slight injuries to the customer and that they are unsuitable for processing in automatic machines.

In order to avoid the inherent difficulties of prcstrung tags, appliances have been developed for passing string from a supply through a tag and an article of merchandise, such as a garment, severing the string to the desired length and tying a knot in the string for retaining the tag on the garment. These prior art appliances, however, have not been commercially successful, because they are not suited either to the nature of the tagging operation or to the requirements imposed by the character of the taggers. With reference to the nature of the tagging operation, it is necessary that a tag attaching appliance be constructed in a manner which permits the tag to be connected to a portion of the goods which is inconspicuous and often not readily accessible. In a coat, for example, it is desirable that the tag be secured to the lower end of a sleeve lining so that the tag will hang conveniently,

below the sleeve when the coat is placed on a rack and yet will not injure the outer surface of the garment. As another example, when a tag is appended to a sleeveless dress the armhole of which is bound by several layers of the dress material or by tape, it is preferable that the string be inserted through the lower portion of the armhole binding both for purposes of presenting the tag conveniently to the customers eye and to minimize the possibility of marring the goods. It will be appreciated from the foregoing examples that a tag attaching appliance must be constructed for inserting a string accurately even through portions of the goods which are not readily accessible.

In addition, it is also desirable, if not essential, that the appliance be capable of operating on goods other than textiles and garments. Other classes of goods to which the utility of a tagging appliance may be extended include articles of jewelry, certain classes of hardware, rugs, carpets and shoes. The tagging of shoes introduces particular problems since it is necessary that the string pass ice through both shoes and the tag and, certain styles of shoes are difiicult to present conveniently to the appliance.

Tagging appliances are further restricted in their design by the requirements that they be operable at rela-- tively high speed over long periods of time without unduly fatiguing the tagger. The speed requirement is dictated by competition from prestrung tags, the application of which is relatively simple and therefore quickly accomplished. In order to minimize fatigue a lagging appliance must not only be light in weight but its component parts must be actuated by one or more strokes of minimum extent and force requirement.

From the foregoing it will be seen that an important objectof the present invention is to provide a tag attaching device best suited to the physical capabilities of a typical tagger. Another object is to provide a light weight tag attaching device which is operable by limited manual movement performed with minimum force requirements.

A further object is to provide a device for appending tags not only securely and quickly but with greater accuracythan has heretofore been possible.

Another object is to provide a tag attaching device which may be economically manufactured and yet will operate reliably over an extended period of time.

A still further object is to provide a tag attaching device which combines safety to the tagger with versatile operation.

The foregoing Objects are achieved in a device including an eye-pointed needle which is normally shielded on a main frame upon which other component parts are mounted with aview to easy manipulation. Also on the frame are hand-actuated connections, according to a feature of the invention, for fully baring the needle to thread string extending through the eye of the needle either through or about an article. In orderto minimize the forces which must be exerted at any given timethe connections for baring the needle have been completely separated from actuating means for other devices which operate upon the string in carrying out successive steps of completely attaching a tag to an article.

Another feature of the invention relates to the construction of knot-tying means comprisinga helical knot- -ting element and a loop retaining arm and to their connections with a main actuating slide.

To minimize fatigue, another feature relates to the slide which is arranged to be pressed rearwardly only a short distance on the frame by a squeezing movement .of

the whole hand. During this rearward movement of the slide not only are the knotting element and the loop retaining arm actuated through part of a knot-tying cycle but connections with the slide are also effective for actuating a string severing means. The operation of the device is simplified and a gain in versatility is realized by another feature which permits manual presentation of the portions of the string to be tied to the knot-tying means. The connections between the knotting element and the actuating slide have been designed with a View to minimizing frictional resistance with the result that the actuating slide requires minimum forward biasing for returning it to its original position for causing the arm and the knotting element to complete the knotting operation.

The foregoing objects, features and advantages will be more clearly understood from a detailed disclosure of an illustrative embodiment of the invention taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figs. 1 and 2 are views in left and right side elevation respectively of a string tag attaching device embodying the features of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2; I

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail View in cross section 3 showing the mounting of a reel upon which is supported a supply of string;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view in left side elevation showing a needle which is a part of the device in position for threading an article;

Fig. 6 is a view in front elevation of the device be ng employed for attaching a tag shown without a housing for clarity;

Fig. 7 is a view in perspective showing a tag being attached to an article as in Fig. 6 but with the device shown partially enclosed by a housing;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view in front elevation showing actuation of a severing means for cutting to length a string threaded through a tag and an article and a knotting element wrapped about the string and gripping its ends;

Figs. 9 to 12 are fragmentary plan views of the knotting elements in successive steps of joining the ends of the string by a knot;

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary view in front elevation showing a portion of the knotted string ready to be withdrawn from the device; and

Fig. 14 is a detail view showing the ends of a tag attaching string as it is knotted by the device.

The illustrative embodiment of the invention, to be described with particular initial reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 6, comprises a main frame 20, including an integral dependent handle 22. Mounted upon the frame is an eye-pointed needle 24 and knotting elements including a helical member 26 and a loop retaining arm 28. In addition to the needle and the knot-tying elements, a pair of scissors indicated at 30 is supported at the front of the frame 20 between the needle 24 and the helical member 26 and a string supply in the form of a reel indicated at 32 is supported at the rear of the frame. The needle 24 is held by a shouldered set screw 34 in a slide 36 (Fig. 5) movable in a vertical tubular guide 38 fixed upon the frame 20. The screw 34 passes through a slot 40 in the wall of the guide 38 and engages the ends of the slot for limiting the movement of the needle 24 between shielded and exposed positions shown in Figs. 1 and 5, respectively.

Hand actuated connections are provided for raising the needle to its exposed position for impaling a tag and threading the string which passes through its eye either through or about the article to which the tag is to be attached. The needle raising connections include a lever 42 pivoted upon a shoulder screw 44 which is threaded into the frame. The lever 42 has a slotted upper arm and an irregularly shaped lower arm formed with an integral laterally extending tab 46 which is pressed forwardly by the operators thumb for baring the needle. The slot 48 in the upper arm of the lever 42 embraces a pin 50 pressed into a generally vertical arm of a bell crank 52 pivoted upon the frame at 54. The other arm of the bell crank 52 is formed With a slot 56 which embraces the set screw 34 for raising the needle which is normally maintained in the retracted position shown in Figs. 1 and 3 by a spring 58 stretched between a latch release slide 60 on the lever 42 and a stud 62 fixed upon the frame 20. Because the needle 24 is normally shielded there is little danger of injury to the operator and, since the needle may be fully exposed, the device is useful for attaching tags to a wide variety of articles which could not be conveniently operated upon with prior art devices. Thus the present device is useful not only for attaching tags to permeable articles such as the sleeve 64 of a garment fragmentarily shown in Figs. 6 and 7 4 hereinafter be explained and a tag is impaled upon theneedle. The needle is then passed through the sleeve: 64 or other permeable article by moving the device: bodily and the free end of the string is thereafter taken. manually as the needle is retracted and brought back tothe device for subsequent severing and knotting operations which will be explained.

The reel 32 is constructed and arranged so that string may be drawn from it under conditions of variable tension and for that purpose it includes a spring 66 (see: Fig. 4) which comprises a part of a variable friction applying means. The spring 66 is disposed within a tubular spindle 68 fixedly mounted upon the frame 20 and is stretched between a generally rectangular wire. loop 70 at one of its ends and a perforation formed in a tension adjusting screw 72 at the other. An inner flange 74 is fixedly supported upon a tube 76 in turn journaled on the spindle 68 and an outer flange 77 is provided witha fixed thimble 78 which forms a spline connection with the end of the tube 76. The reel assembly comprising the flanges 74, 77 and the tube 76 is urged inwardly toward the frame against a flange 80 by the spring 66 acting on the loop 70. The screw 72 is threaded into a knurled nut 82 by means of which friction on a cop of string 84 fitted to the tube 76 between the flanges 74 and 77 may be adjusted. From the cop 84 the spring indicated by the reference numeral 86 passes successively through an angularly disposed opening 88 in the frame 20, through a take-up guide 90, through another opening 92 in the frame and thereafter through the eye of the needle terminating in a free end as shown in Fig. 5. The guide which is fixed upon the bell crank 52 and extends through an arcuate slot 94 prevents unthreading of the needle as it is being raised to its exposed position. To prevent unthreading of the needle while it is being passed through a garment it is preferable when operating on certain materials to employ a needle having a keyhole-shaped eye into the narrow part of which the string becomes wedged as the needle passes through the material.

The string severing and knotting elements of the device are connected by mechanism to a rack toothed actuating slide 96 mounted horizontally on the frame and reciprocable through a stroke of approximately one-half inch. The short stroke which is imparted to the slide 96 by squeezing together the handle 22 and a grip 98 integral with the slide is especially suited for use by women operators whose hands are limited in size and strength. The slide 96 is formed with two slots 100 spaced apart along its length, the forwardly disposed one of which engages the shoulder screw 44 and the rearward one of which surrounds a similarly shouldered screw 102. The helical member 26 is formed with a rearwardly extending shank 104 (Fig. 3) upon which is secured an elongated pinion 106 in mesh with a vertically disposed cylindrical rack 108 slidable within a tube 110. The shank 104 is journaled in an irregularly shaped auxiliary frame 112 for which the tube serves as an integral pivot. The tube 110 is pivoted in superposed ears of a bracket 114r fixed on the frame 20 and is rearwardly slotted so that the rack 108 may be engaged by the teeth of a gear sector 116 fixed to a short shaft 118 which is journaled in the frame 20. The rack teeth of the slide 96 mesh with those of another gear sector 120 which is pinned upon the shaft 118 at the opposite side of the frame 20 for translating rearward movement of the slide 96 into clockwise (as seen from the front in Fig. 7) rotation of the knotting element 26.

After the free end of the string has been passed through a tag 122 (Figs. 6 and 7) and through or around the article, in the illustration, the sleeve 64, its free end is grasped and deposited manually by the operator in a groove 124 (Figs. 3 and 6) formed in a string receiving block 126 fixed upon the forward end of the frame 20. As the free end of the string is being manipulated toward a knot.

8 the groove 124, a portion of the string between the needle 24 and the garment 64 is directed into the groove. After its free end has entered the groove, the string forms a bight at the garment, the legs of which bight are accurately positioned by the groove 124 for subsequent operations. Guidance of the two legs of the bight is facilitated by a string directing finger 128 which cooperates with string directing surfaces 138 on a housing 132, shown in Fig. 7 and fragmentarily in Fig. 3, formed with a forward opening through which the legs of the bight are admitted into the receiving groove of the block 126. The finger 128 is so formed that it closes the opening in the housing to inward movement of the free leg of the bight and the surfaces 130 are shaped to funnel both legs into the groove.

The knotting element 26 is formed with an open ended slot 134 for gripping the thread after a combination of movements terminating with the forward end of the knotting element in a perforation 136 which straddles the groove 124 in the block 126. in addition to a rotary motion of about one and one-quarter turns in extent, the element 26 has imparted to it rearward axial movement and a counterclockwise pivotal movement as viewed in Fig. 3 in traveling between its idle position and the string gripping position shown in Fig. 8. Axial movement is imparted to the knotting element 26 by a coarse threaded screw 138 secured on the shank 104, which engages a half nut 140 mounted on the frame 112. In order to cause initial axial movement proportionate to the rotation of the element 26 and to permit further rotation of the element 26 without axial movement, the half nut 140 is slidable forwardly and rearwardly on the frame being held by a pair of shoulder screws 142 which pass loosely-through openings in an integral flange of the half nut and are threaded into the frame 112. The half nut is urged rearwardly by a compression spring 144, fitted in a pin-closed opening in the frame 112, which spring bears against the flange of the half nut. For imparting pivotal movement to the frame 112 as the knotting element is rotated and moves axially rearwardly, a cone 146 is secured on the shank 104. The cone 146, which by engaging the frame 112 arrests the rearward movement of the knotting element '26, is held in contact with a low friction follower 148 by a tension spring 156 stretched between the frame 112 and the main frame 24). The follower 148 rotates about a fixed axis on an- L-shaped bracket 152, the axis comprising a screw 154 which passes through an elongated opening in the bracket and is clamped by a nut 156. The bracket 152 is adjustably secured to the main frame 20 at a variable distance from the pivot of the frame 112 by a pair of screws 158 which pass through slots in the bracket and engage threaded openings in the main frame. As the knotting element 26 is rotated, the screw and nut connection 138, 140 causes a corresponding rearward axial motion of the knotting element until a thrust bearing, 159 behind the cone 146 contacts the frame 112. During the rearward movement of the cone 146 its engagement with the follower 148 causes the frame 112 to be pivoted about the tube 110 in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3. When the bearing 159 engages the frame, the axial movement of the knotting element 26 is arrested and there is consequently no further pivotal movement of the frame 112, but, the mounting of the half nut 1413' upon the frame .112 permits the rotary movement of the knotting element to continue as the screw 138 presses the nut 146* forwardly against the spring 144 thereby causing the slotted end of the knotting element to enter the perforation 136 to grip both legs of the string bight preparatory to tying The relative timing of the rotary, axial and pivotal movements of the knotting element 26 is ad- 'ju'sted by positioning the follower 148 either closer to or farther from the pivot of the frame 112. A knurled knob 160 is retained by a setscrew 162 on the rearward 6 end of the shank 104 for convenience in manipulating the element 26 in making adjustments of the device. The screw 138, the pinion 106 and the cone 146 are also retained on the shank 104 by setscrews, that for the cone, the only one shown, being indicated at 164.

After the two legs of the bight have been gripped in the slot 134 of the knotting element 26, the scissors 30 are actuated by connections with the slide 96 just before the slide reaches the limit of its rearward travel. As will be seen in Fig. 2, a leg 166 of the scissors 30 has secured to it a rectangular plate 168 for fixedly supporting the leg 166 on the frame 20. The other leg 170 of the scissors is pivotally connected to the forward end of an actuating link 172 which at its rearward end or heel is free to move in a slot formed in a heel block 174 secured to the frame 26. Near its heel the link 172 has a generally triangular opening 176 through which passes a stud 178 adjustably fixed upon the forward end of the slide 96. The stud 178 is shouldered and is retained in position in a slot 180 by a check nut 182 (Fig. 1). From the slide 96, the stud 178 extends laterally through a clearance opening 184 in the main frame 20 and into engagement with the walls of the opening 1767 The link 172 is urged rearwardly by a spring 185 stretched between the oifset forward end of the link and the stud 178 so that the link is maintained in engagement with the slot in the heel block by a force which increases as the slide 96 is moved rearwardly. During the rearward movement of the slide 96 the stud engages the rearward wall of a triangular opening 176 thereby causing the heel of the link 172 to slide upwardly in engagement with the slot 1 the block 174. As long as the heel of the link 172 remains in engagement with the slot in the heel block, negligible motion is imparted to the leg 179 of the scissors. Near the rearward limit of travel of the slide 96, after the string has been gripped in the slot 134, the heel of the link 172 is raised by the stud 178 out of engagement with the slot in the block 174 and thereafter slides freely atop the block. The expanded spring 185 causes the link 172 to shift rearwardly thus imparting a sudden string severing movement to the leg 170.

Also cooperating in the knotting operation is the loop retaining arm 28, best shown in Figs. 8 through 13, the actuating connections of which will now be described. The arm 28 is arcuate in form and has an integral shank 186 formed with a radial finger 188 at its rearward end. The shank 186 is rotatable and slidable in spaced integral ears 198 of a thin plate 192 secured upon the upper forward portion of the main frame 20. Wrapped about the shank 186 is a spring 194 connected between the forward ear 1% and a pin 195 on the shank 186 for urging the arm 28 rearwardly, and, as seen in Fig. 8, in a counterclockwise direction about the axis of the shank. In its inactive position the arm 28 is elevated above the string receiving block 126, as shown in Fig. 7, and, as best seen in Fig. 3, lies in a plane generally behind the perforation 136 in the string receiving block. The arm 28 is actuated by engagement of the finger 188 with an oblique guide surface 196 (Fig. 1) forming the forward edge of a gate 198. A connection between the finger 188 and the surface 196 is made through an inverted- U-shaped slot 200 in the plate 192, shown in Fig. 1. While the arm 28 is inactive its movement is prevented by the gate 198 which closes the rearward leg of the slot 260. The gate 198 is adjustably secured to an upward extension of the slide 96 so that as the slide approaches the rearward extremity of its movement the rearward leg of the slot 280 is opened, thereby permitting the finger 188 to enter and the arm 28 to pivot downwardly toward the operative position shown in Fig. 8.

As the slide 96 reaches the rearward limit of its travel the relative positions of the knotting element 26 and of the arm 28 are as shown in Figs. 8 and 9 in which it will also be noted that the legs of the string bight have already been severed by the operation of the scissors 30 leaving only a short length of string extending to the right of the point where the legs are gripped in the slot 134. During the rearward movement of the slide 96 the arm 28 moves in a radial plane only as the gate 198 gradually opens the rearward leg of the slot 200. At the rearward extreme of movement of the slide 96 the slot 200 is fully opened and the finger 188 is alined for entry into the horizontal portion of the slot which connects the two vertical legs.

For returning the slide 96 to its forward inactive position a tension spring 202 (Fig. 1) is stretched between the slide and the stud 62. When the pressure exerted on the grip 98 is released the slide 96 moves forwardly thereby imparting reverse movements to the knotting element 26. During the forward return of the slide 96, the loop retaining arm 28, however, moves in a forward direction only so as to retain the loop formed by the knotting element 26 which is moving away from the opening 136 in the string receiving block 126. This forward movement of the arm 28 maintains the arm in spaced relation with the nearest portion of the element 26 as the latter is not only rotated but also slides forwardly in the frame 112 as the slide 96 is returning to its forward position. For imparting forward movement to the arm 28 the guide surface 196 engages the finger 188 which is thereby caused to advance in the horizontal portion of the U-shaped slot to the position shown in Fig. 12 in which the spring 194 is shown fully compressed.

During the forward movement of the slide 96 the knotting element 26 first receives a purely rotary movement in a counterclockwise direction as seen in Fig. 8 so that the end of the knotting element is withdrawn from the opening 136 as the half nut 140 resumes the position on the frame 112 shown in Fig. 3. Thereafter, the forward end of the knotting element 26 is advanced forwardly and at the same time swung away from the main frame 20 by the same connections which have been described for wrapping the knotting element about the legs of the bight and gripping the legs in the slot 134. With the arm 28 remaining in a loop retaining position although advancing as already described, the ends of the string bight are first drawn across an intermediate portion of the legs to form a loop as shown in Fig. 11. As the loop is being formed the ends of the legs are drawn away from the arm 28, thus causing the intermediate and rearwardly disposed part of the loop to slide forwardly on the knotting element 26. From the position of Fig. 11 the knotting element 26 is further rotated to pass the ends of the legs through the loop as shown in Figs. 12 and 13, which depict the relative positions of the knotting element and of the arm 28 just before the completion of the knot-tying operation.

For tightening the knot and returning the arm 28 to its inactive position the string is gripped manually between the device and the tagged article and firmly snapped away from the knotting element thereby also releasing the string from the slot 134.

When operating on materials which offer considerable resistance to passage of the needle, it is advantageous to lock the needle in the fully exposed position shown in Fig. 5. For this purpose, a readily releasable latch 204 (Figs. 1 and is pivoted on the frame 20 at 206 and is provided with a spring 208 wrapped about the pivot for urging the latch in a counterclockwise direction. The latch 204 is arranged to engage the pin 50 between the needle actuating lever 42 and the bell crank 52, the latch being formed with an intermediate notch 210 into which the pin 50 enters when the needle is fully raised as shown in Fig. 5, and a forward extension which remains in contact with the pin 50 in the released position of the needle. For quickly and conveniently releasing the latch 204 the slide 60 is formed with an upper inwardly turned flange 212 which underlies the latch and an outwardly extending tab 214 positioned to be engaged by the thumb of the operator for releasing the latch. The releasing slide 60 is retained on the actuating lever 42 by a shoulder screw 216 which passes through a slot 218 in the slide and also by the engagement with the screw 44, upon which the actuating lever is pivoted, of a second slot 220 in the slide. The spring 58 which urges the lever 42 in a counterclockwise direction, because of its connection to the slide 60, performs the added function of normally maintaining the slide 60 out of engagement with the latch 204 until the slide is pressed upwardly against the tension of the spring by the operators thumb.

In order to prevent actuation of the slide 96 by the reflex action of the operators hand as the needle 24 is being raised for threading an article, an interlock has been provided which functions to retain the slide in its forward position, at any time that the needle is raised above its fully retracted position. The interlock includes a horizontally disposed lever 222 (Figs. 1 and 5) pivoted at 224 on a depending integral portion of the frame 20. The lever 222 has a forward arm in which a pin 226 is pressed in register with the slide 36 to be engaged by the latter when the needle is in its fully retracted position. When the needle is raised above its fully retracted position the slide 36 moves out of contact with the pin 226 allowing a leaf spring 228 to press the rearward end of the lever which terminates in a hook 230 into locking engagement with the grip 98. A notched plate 232 is secured to the upper forward portion of the grip 98 with its notch positioned to be engaged by the hook 230 when the needle is raised and the grip is in the fully forward position as shown in Fig. 5.

Having thus described in detail a device embodying the features of the invention and typical procedures for employing the device, what is claimed is:

l. A device for attaching a tag to an article, comprising in combination, a main frame, a normally shielded eye-pointed needle mounted on the frame, hand actuatable means on the frame for baring the needle to thread the article with string from a supply passing through the eye to a free end beyond the needle, means on the frame for receiving the free end of the string from one side of the threaded article and an intermediate portion of the string from another side of the article, knot-tying means including a rotatable and receiprocable element having a helically shaped, forked forward end portion, an actuating slide mounted for reciprocation rearwardly and forwardly on the frame, and means connecting the slide with the knot-tying element for imparting to the latter axial and rotary movements each in a first direction during rearward movement of the slide for looping the element about the string between the threaded article and the receiving means and for gripping between the prongs of the fork both portions of the looped string at the receiving means and for imparting reverse movements to the element during return of the slide for tying a double over-hand knot.

2. A device for attaching a tag to an article, comprising in combination, a main frame, a normally shielded eye-pointed needle mounted on the frame, hand actuatable means on the frame for baring the needle to thread the article with string from a supply passing through the eye to a free end beyond the needle, means on the frame for receiving the free end of the string from one side of the threaded article and an intermediate portion of the string from another side of the article, string severing means, knot-tying means including a rotatable and reciprocable element having a helically shaped, forked forward end portion, an actuating slide mounted for reciprocation rearwardly and forwardly on the frame, means connecting the slide with the knot-tying element for imparting to the latter axial and rotary movements each in a first direction during rearward movement of the slide for looping the element about the string between the threaded article and the receiving means and for gripping between the prongs of the fork both portions of the looped string 9 at the receiving means and for imparting reverse movements to the element during return of the slide for tying a double overhand knot, and means bet-ween the slide and the severing means for causing actuation of the latter at the rearward limit of slide travel.

3. A device for attaching a tag to an article, comprising in combination, a main frame, a normally shielded eyepointed needle mounted on the frame, hand actuatable means on the frame for baring the needle to thread the article with string from a supply passing through the eye to a free end beyond the needle, means on the frame for receiving the free end of the string from one side of the threaded article and an intermediate portion of the string from another side of the article, knot-tying means including a rotatable and reciprocable element having a helically shaped, forked forward end portion, an actuating slide mounted for reciprocation reanwardly and forwardly on the frame, means connecting the slide with the knot-tying element for imparting to the latter axial and rotary movements each in a first direction during rearward movement of the slide for looping the element about the string between the threaded article and the receiving means and for gripping between the prongs of the fork both portions of the looped string at the receiving means and for imparting reverse movements to the element during return of the slide for tying a double over-hand knot, and a housing enveloping a portion of the device and having a forward opening defined by edges convergent toward the string receiving means.

4. A device for attaching a tag to an article, comprising in combination, a main frame, a normally shielded eye-pointed needle mounted on the frame, hand actuatable means on the frame for baring the needle to thread the article with string from a supply passing through the eye to a free end beyond the needle, means on the frame for receiving the free end of the string from one side of the threaded article and an intermediate portion of the string from another side of the article, knot-tying means including an auxiliary frame pivoted on the main frame, a knottying element, having a helically shaped, forked forward end portion, and a shank rotatable and reciprocable in the auxiliary frame, an actuating slide mounted for reciprocation rearwardly and forwardly on the frame, means connecting the slide with the knot-tying element for imparting to the latter axial and rotary movements each in a first direction during rearward movement of the slide for looping the element about the string between the threaded article and the receiving means and for gripping between the prongs of the fork both portions of the looped string at the receiving means and for imparting reverse movements to the element during return of the slide for tying a double over-hand knot, and means connected to the shank for causing the auxiliary frame to oscillate during a reciprocation of the actuating slide.

5. A device for attaching a tag to an article, comprising in combination, a main frame, a needle shield on the frame, an eye-pointed needle slidably mounted on the shield, hand actuatable means on the frame for raising the needle above the shield to thread the article with string from a supply passing through the eye to a free end beyond the needle, releasable latch means for locking the needle in its raised position, means on the frame for receiving the free end of the string from one side of the threaded article and an intermediate portion of the string from another side of the article, knot-tying means including a rotatable and reciprocable element having a helically shaped, forked forward end portion, an actuating slide mounted for reciprocation rearwardly and forwardly on the frame, and means connecting the slide with the knot-tying element for imparting to the latter axial and rotary movements each in a first direction during rearward movement of the slide for looping the element about the string between the threaded article and the receiving means and for gripping between the prongs of the fork both portionsof the looped string at 'thei'eceivirig means and for imparting reverse movements to the element during return of the slide for tying a double overhand knot.

6. A device for attaching a tag to an article, comprising in combination, a main frame, a normally shielded eye-pointed needle mounted on the frame, hand act-uatable means on the frame for baring the needle to thread the article with string from a supply passing through the eye to a free end beyond the needle, means on the frame for receiving the free end of the string fromone side of the threaded article and an intermediate portion of the string from another side of the article, knottying means including a rotatable and reciprocable element having a helically shaped, forked forward end portion, an actuating slide mounted for reciprocation rearwardly and forwardly on the frame, means connecting the slide with the knot-tying element for imparting to the latter axial and rotary movements each in a first direction during rearward movement of the slide for looping the element about the string between the threaded article and the receiving means and for gripping between the pronm of the fork both portions of the looped strip at the receiving means and for imparting reverse movements to the element during return of the slide for tying a double over-hand knot and interlock means for retaining the slide against actuation while the needle is bared.

7. A device for attaching a tag by means of string to an article, comprising a main frame, an actuating slide mounted reciprocably on the frame and knotting means including a helical member having an integral shank, a pivoted auxiliary frame in which the shank is rotatable and reciprocable, a loop retaining arm, means including connections with the slide for causing oscillatory and reciprocatory movements of the helical member during a reciprocation of the slide, means including a cone on the shank for imparting pivotal movement to the auxiliary frame coincident with the reciprocation of the helical member, and connecting means between the slide and the arm for imparting to the arm, loop retaining movements complementary to and in timed relationship to the movements of the helical member during a complete reciprocation of the actuating slide.

8. A device for attaching a tag by means of string to an article, comprising a main frame, a manually operable actuating slide reciprocably mounted on the frame, a knot-tying means connected to the slide and actuated to perform the initial portion of a knot-tying operation as the slide is moved in a first direction and to complete the knot-tying operation during return movement of the slide, scissors having a leg fixed upon the frame and a movable leg and actuating means for the movable leg including a spring under tension between the slide and the movable leg and urging the movable leg toward a closed relationship with the fixed leg under increasing tension as the slide is moved in the first direction, means connected to the movable leg for resisting movement of the movable leg under the tension of the spring, and means for releasing the resisting means near the end of the slide movement in the first direction for permitting the spring suddenly to close the scissors to sever strands of string priorly placed in the scissors whereby the string is severed after the knot-tying means has performed the initial portion of the knot-tying operation and the movement of the slide throughout its extent is achieved under conditions of substantially uniform force requirements.

9. A device for attaching a tag by means of string to an article comprising, in combination, a main frame, a manually actuated knot-tying element movably mounted on the frame and having a string gripping slot in one of its ends and string receiving means fixedly secured on the frame including a slotted and perforated block the slot of which is in the path of movement of the slotted end of the element and the perforation of which is in straddling relationship with the slot in the block whereby, during its actuation, the string gripping slot may be brought into gripping engagement with strands of string priorly positioned in the slot of the receiving block.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Collier Dec. 30, 1890 

